NTSB Wants To Ban All Cellphones While Driving

In a surprising move, the National Transportation Board is calling upon states to prohibit the use of all cellphones in cars, including hands-free devices.

The landmark ban would go beyond the current law in Connecticut, which allows the use of hands-free devices and Bluetooth technology for drivers.

Connecticut passed its cell-phone ban in 2005 after seven years of often-bitter debates at the state Capitol. The measure was bottled up in the Senate for years as some lawmakers said that driving with a cellphone in your hand was just as dangerous as trying to drive while eating a slice of pizza. The pizza, though, was not illegal.

Although the NTSB's move is not binding, the views of the national board have wide influence across the country.

State Rep. Richard Roy spent seven years trying to impose the ban - being successful multiple times in the state House of Representatives. But the bill was repeatedly squelched by opponents in the Senate. But lawmakers finally reached a compromise, and the law took effect under then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell in October 2005.

Roy strongly favors the move by the NTSB because he says that the hands-free devices are not safe as drivers are still distracted. Despite the cell-phone bans, distracted drivers are still getting into serious accidents, he said. It's the conversation that is the problem, not the technology, he said.

Even the new technology that has the hands-free device embedded in the car is not safe, he said.

"I'm delighted,'' he said of the NTSB. "The numbers are beginning to shock people a bit. Maybe now we'll get things done. Quite frankly, Congress in the past 30, 40 years hasn't done a lot in a bunch of areas. They've pretty much ignored it.''

Despite the increase in the use of hands-free devices, the number of cell-phone violations and fines collected by the police has increased steadily through the years. Soon after the law took effect, the state collected $185,000 in fines in the first three months of 2006. That number exploded to nearly $1 million in fines for the period from April 1 to June 30 this year. The increase in fines collected was more than five-fold as the number of offenses more than tripled, according to state records.

Influential lobbyists for the automobile industry and the cell-phone companies have derailed the bill in Washington, D.C., he said. Some lobbyists from those industries came to Hartford to try to block Connecticut's bill in 2005, but they were too late, Roy said.

Reuters reported that the five-member NTSB lacks the authority to impose the new regulations, but it could provide momentum for a ban at the state level. The impetus for the proposed regulation was a massive pile-up in Missouri that killed two motorists and injured 38 others in an accident caused by a 19-year-old driver who had been sending text messages before the accident.

Overall, 35 states now ban the sending of text messages while driving.

By comparison, fewer than 10 states have bans on cell phones, Roy said. Connecticut was the second state in the nation to enact a ban - four years after the New York State ban took effect in 2001.

"We're ahead of the curve,'' Roy said. "A lot of states are doing texting. They're not worried about talking. ... Most people think they can talk on the phone and it doesn't affect them.''

Noting that Wild West states like Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho do not want restrictions, Roy said those states are a case of apples and oranges.

"There's a little difference between Connecticut and Montana,'' Roy said. "If you go off the road there, there's grasslands and maybe you'll hit a cow.''

Reuters quoted NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman as saying, "When it comes to using electronic devices, it may seem like it's a quick call or a quick text or a tweet, but accidents happen in the blink of an eye. No emails, no texts, no calls. It's worth a human life."

Despite the various moves by states, Congress has not passed a federal ban on texting while driving or using cell phones.

Rep. Stephen Dargan, one of the longest-serving House members in Connecticut, questioned whether a new law is needed.

"The NTSB should first worry about pilots who come to work intoxicated,'' Dargan told Capitol Watch in an interview. "How many more bills do we have to do to teach common sense? Don't be putting on make-up. Don't drink and drive. Don't put eyeliner on. Just drive. C'mon.''